Gina's House of Plants

One of my goals this year that I forgot to put in my 2012 list earlier is to set up a little indoor garden and keep the plants living and healthy! For the first time in my life, I really enjoyed my plants in 2011 and kept them green and healthy. This year I want to expand my garden. I also think it will help to brighten up the winter months that I dread so much. Off to Lowe's I went to hit up the clearance plant area from the leftover Christmas plant gifts. (I had heard about this online in a plant forum and boy are they right! I found several for $1 to $3 and a large planter for $5. When you don't know if you will kill the plant or not, it is nice not to have to invest much! I was a little worried that they might be ready to die plants, but they were all in great shape.)

The cast of characters includes:

Spider plant that from my MIL

Orchid

Purple Waffle

Christmas Cactus

Sago Palm

Bromeliad

Luseane Scheflerra

So far I have repotted them with some fertilizer, identified them all, and put them in their new locations. I have also learned that the Purple Waffle is a demanding little guy. He requires LOTs of water or else he starts to collapse and the little leaves feel paper thin. With watering they stiffen up and feel 5 times thicker to the touch. I also learned that the Sago Palm is poisonous to pets, so I have it away from them and will be sure to keep high from any children, too. This also led me down a path of researching what I want my next plants to be and where to put them so that we all stay safe. (I will say that my dogs show 0% interest in my living plants, but they sniff my fake floral arrangement in the half bath on a regular basis. So much so that we named it Riley's flowers. What is up with that?)

This pathos I got about 1 1/2 years ago and it is going nuts!

My bargain bin planter fits nicely in the wrought iron plant stand I found on my visit to my mom. It's like this planter was made for this window. It LOVES this location. Perked right up and has happily been growing along...I'm amazed at how much in just a week. It has a Dracaena (the tall one), but I'm not so sure about the other three. Anybody have suggestions? I was wondering if the light green one is an arrowhead plant and the dark green with a yellow center either a dieffenbachia, pothos, or hosta? I haven't found anything on the small green with white spots one. I'd love any help you all can offer as I learn my way through.

Along with my various spider plants, the house feels fresher and less like a dreary winter grey. I have a huge list of plants I want to try out so that when I am in a bargain bin and hunting around, I can pick from this list. What plants do you love?